


Make That Two, Please

by aqonoluna



Series: RyuGoro [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro is Bad at Feelings, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Awkward Flirting, Bad Flirting, Boys In Love, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Crushes, Flirting, M/M, Minor Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji, POV Sakamoto Ryuji, Teen Crush, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28076997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqonoluna/pseuds/aqonoluna
Summary: “So, um…” Akechi cleared his throat, causing Ryuji to turn back to him. “Since when do you drink coffee? I seem to recall you said it was bitter.”In which Ryuji Sakamoto orders a cup of coffee in an attempt to impress a certain Detective Prince and, hopefully, get him to notice him as more than just a teammate.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: RyuGoro [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970908
Comments: 14
Kudos: 38





	Make That Two, Please

Akira raised an eyebrow in response to Ryuji’s order, looking between Goro Akechi, who was sitting at the far end of the bar, doing something on his phone, and his best friend, who was… _sitting_ right in front of him.

Maybe his ears needed cleaning out more than he thought they did, because there was _no way_ Ryuji Sakamoto was ordering a coffee for himself.

“I’m sorry… You want _what_ now?”

Ryuji sighed and rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, forcing himself to not follow Akira’s eyes to the end of the bar; to not _look at_ the Detective Prince. 

It was incriminating as it was that Ryuji just now ordered a coffee after previously making a… _whole huge deal_ about not liking it. 

The last thing he needed was to make it _even more_ obvious what he was trying to accomplish.

It was bad enough Akira was _extremely smart_ and probably already knew; probably already put the pieces together before opening his mouth.

It wasn’t like it was hard to put two and two together: Goro Akechi came in (as he usually did) and ordered a coffee (as he usually did) and then immediately after he took his usual seat at the bar, Ryuji followed the request with one of his own.

_Smooth, Sakamoto. Smooth._

“Ya heard me, man,” he said, crossing his arms as he leaned from one hip to the other on the bar stool. (It was a miracle he didn’t fall off it. Ryuji truly had the upper body balance of a god.) He even crossed his legs, as well.

Amazing.

“I said: Make that two. I want a coffee, too.”

Akira blinked slowly, truly forcing himself to _not_ look at Ryuji like he was out of his mind; to _not_ look at him like he’d grown three or four more heads.

It was so hard.

“You want me to…” He pressed his lips into a thin line and sucked them in for a moment. “...make you a coffee.”

Ryuji groaned.

“Dude. _Yes._ That’s what I’m askin’ for,” he said and rolled his eyes like somehow Akira was the one being unreasonable.

Unbelievable.

“It ain’t that hard, is it? I just want a coffee. That’s all.”

“Ryuji, you don’t even _like_ coffee,” Akira said, as if that were somehow information only _he_ knew.

For a few moments, his lips quivered slightly in the hold he had on them between his teeth before he frowned, crossing his arms.

Akira wouldn’t dare act like this about another order, or with a different customer, but these circumstances were different... and it was just Ryuji.

“Do you even know how time consuming it is to make these coffees?”

It was a blessing Akechi hadn’t looked at Akira yet, to see what he was doing; to see how his order was coming along, because he hadn’t even started yet, currently being distracted by his best friend’s utterly ridiculous request for his own cup of coffee.

...and for _what?_ So he could _flirt?_

_You aren’t slick, Ryuji._

Taking this as the perfect opportunity to get to work and act like he always had been, Akira turned to the coffee maker and began setting up.

If there were inquiries about the delay, he was… positive he could come up with something.

After all, he wasn’t a bad liar.

“No,” Akira continued, beginning to pour water over the coffee. “Ryuji, I’m not making a coffee that’s going to go to waste when you realize you still don’t like it… and trying to impress a boy didn’t change that.”

“I ain’t tryna impress a boy!” Ryuji protested, far louder than was necessary.

Thankfully, the only other person in the café was Akechi… and thankfully… Well, he didn’t _seem_ to notice Ryuji’s outburst.

Ryuji groaned, sinking into his seat a bit. Part of him wished he could disappear. This wasn’t going how he wanted it to at all.

For starters, Akira wasn’t supposed to have been so _impossible_ to reason with…

“C’mon man, _please_?” he continued, actively forcing himself to lower his voice. “I just want one coffee. I know I said before I ain’t a fan, but I changed my mind. I… like it now.”

Akira snorted.

“You like it now?” he asked, attention still on the task at hand, delicately pouring water over the coffee beans, listening as the coffee trickled into the cup. “ _That’s_ what you want me to believe? You suddenly _like_ coffee now?”

“Yes!” Ryuji replied earnestly. “I like coffee now. I had it… I had it with some sugar once and it… it was good that way.”

Akira laughed. It was a hearty sound from deep within his soul. Somehow he managed to force the rest of his body to not move while he laughed, all of the emotions he was feeling illuminating in his bright grey eyes that were partially hidden under bangs.

Akira may not have been the apple of Ryuji’s eye, but there was no denying how gorgeous he was.

(...and maybe he _kind of was_ the apple of his eye, too, but not in the same way he was entranced by Goro Akechi.)

(Not that he was trying to impress Akechi or Akira… or was even _interested_ in boys at all… because he definitely was not.) 

“You know what?” Akira began, looking up at Ryuji. “I’ll make you some coffee,” he said, handing him the cup he’d just finished pouring, “but _you_ have to take this one over to Akechi for me.”

Ryuji blinked and looked down at the mug of black liquid now in his hands… and for a brief moment, he just stared at it, examining it. 

Taking it in.

Everything about it was vile.

Even the smell of it, which people often said was one of their favorite scents, was disgusting. 

At least, like this it was.

Akira smelled of coffee just as much as this mug did, but his coffee scent was mixed with his natural pheromones and the citrus body wash he used to try and cover said coffee smell.

Plain coffee smelled horrible.

“Uh… Okay. Yeah. Sure. I can do that.”

Ryuji cleared his throat and tapped the edge of the plate the mug was sitting on as he glanced over to Akechi again, watching him for a moment; taking in the way he was utterly entranced with…

Whatever he was looking at on his phone.

“Well?” Akira said, breaking Ryuji’s trance. He frowned as his friend looked at him as if he had no idea he was there. “Go take him his coffee before he writes some sort of bad review about Leblanc on his stupid blog. Sojiro will kill me if he gets a negative review on this place.”

_Goro Akechi runs a food blog? Since when?_

“Right. Sorry,” Ryuji said, getting up from his seat and turning a quarter away from the bar. “I’m going.”

Akira rolled his eyes, but got to work making a coffee for Ryuji, knowing full well his efforts were going to go to waste. There was no way he was going to finish this.

Even if he only wanted it to flirt with Akechi.

_You really aren’t slick, Ryuji._

The little walk from the coffee-making station to Goro Akechi wasn’t nearly as long as it needed to be. He was barely a third through a mini panic attack about approaching a man he’d talked to dozens of times before he suddenly found himself face-to-face with him.

Anxiously, he cleared his throat, worrying his bottom lip as he glanced at Akechi’s phone. He didn’t have enough time to see any of what he was looking at, though, because he turned off the screen and laid the phone on the counter upside down before he looked at Ryuji.

They made eye contact for half a second before Akechi’s attention fell, being divided between Ryuji and the coffee he was currently holding.

…kind of.

Ryuji’s hands were shaking so badly it was genuinely a surprise that he hadn’t spilt the whole thing on the floor.

“Ryuji…?”

It took Ryuji far longer than it should’ve to figure out what Akechi was looking at, but as soon as he did, he straightened his back, immediately holding out the coffee — shaking hands and all.

“Here’s, uh… Here’s yer coffee, Akechi. Um, Akira asked me t’ b-bring it over to ya, so, I, um…”

_You sound like an idiot. Shuddup._

“Here.” Ryuji put the coffee down on the counter next to Akechi, a scorching blush all but setting him ablaze as it crept up his neck and over his ears. “Sorry to bother you; I’ll just be—”

“Here’s your coffee, Ryuji,” Akira said, putting the mug that was just for him down on the counter right next to Akechi.

When Ryuji looked at Akira, his already dry mouth somehow went even drier, all the moisture completely gone… _somehow._

The grin he was being given was… well… it was _very_ _Akira,_ but the Joker part of him. The same grin he gave palace rulers and shadows as he went in for a kill.

Ryuji was a complete idiot for saying he suddenly liked coffee. _Of course_ Akira would know it was a lie — and _of course_ he would exploit said lie for everything that it was worth.

Sometimes Akira woke up and chose chaos — and sometimes the chance for it fell right into his lap; right into his hands that always needed to be doing something… but no matter how he managed to stumble upon it, the leader of the Phantom Thieves never declined the opportunity for pure, chaotic bullshit.

“Th-thanks, man.”

Akira’s impish little grin became nothing more than an angelic smile, his head tilted to the side. His eyes were suddenly hidden from view behind a strange glare on his glasses.

“Oh, there’s really no need to thank me~”

Akira turned on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets, heading back down to his station.

From his own spot, Ryuji watched as Akira pulled his phone out of his pocket, leaving his other hand where it was.

Suddenly seeming lost to the world, he idly scrolled until, Ryuji assumed, another customer came in and wanted something.

“So, um…” Akechi cleared his throat, causing Ryuji to turn back to him. “Since when do you drink coffee? I seem to recall you said it was too bitter.”

“O-oh, well, um…” He glanced down at his coffee, noticing how paler his was compared to Akechi’s. _Milk and sugar._ “It is bitter,” he said, looking back up to Akechi. “That’s why I like mine with a lot of sugar and milk added in. I, uh… I like it sweet.”

Akechi made a face, picking up his coffee to take a sip. The way he relaxed as he did; the face he made, the way his shoulders fell just a little bit, the fact his whole _person_ seemed to come together, from one sip…

_Eff._

“To each their own, I suppose,” he said around the mug, before taking another sip of coffee, “but I prefer if my food isn’t cloying.”

“Cl-cloying?”

Akechi seemed to smile around the rim of his mug. Ryuji couldn’t tell from his lips, but he could see it in the way his eyes lit up; in the way amusement and… _something else…_ were dancing in them.

“Excessively sweet,” Goro explained, then gestured to the seat beside him. “Take a seat and drink your coffee. It’ll only stay hot for so long.”

Right.

His coffee.

Holding back a sigh, Ryuji sat down next to Akechi. Biting the side of his bottom lip, his eyes darted between Akechi (who was now facing forward, enjoying his pick-me-up drink) and his own coffee.

Somehow, it smelled _even worse_ than the one he had given to Akechi. Not only did it smell bitter, but it also smelled of far too much sugar.

Ryuji didn’t _hate_ sweet beverages, but only if those sweet beverages were hot cocoa… and only if that hot cocoa was made by his mom or by Boss.

Otherwise, he much preferred tea or water.

However, unfortunately, _right now_ , he _had to_ like coffee.

Picking up the mug, he immediately made a soft sound in response to how warm the mug was. It felt _delightful._ And was likely the only part about this whole experience that _would_ _be_ delightful, he was positive.

He forced himself (in a similar way he forced himself to be quiet about the Phantom Thieves in public) to not make a face as he took his first sip, despite how absolutely _vile_ it tasted. 

Not only was it bitter, but it was also, simultaneously, _at the same time,_ extremely sweet — and those _were not_ mixing. 

It was as if the cloying sweetness (to use Akechi’s five-dollar word) was sitting on top of the bitterness instead of mixing with it.

Not that he would have liked it any better if it was mixed together, but this was just awful. How could anyone actually drink this and enjoy it? It made no sense at all.

“Good?”

Still holding the warm mug in his hands (it was _definitely_ the best part about the drink), Ryuji looked up at Akechi who was looking back at him…

In some weird way, he kind of looked like he had been staring at him this whole time and Ryuji just hadn’t noticed because he was too busy choking back his coffee.

Strange.

_Why?_

“It, uh… It’s good,” Ryuji said, biting his bottom lip. He was _literally_ lying through his teeth. “Boss makes the best coffee in all o’ Tokyo, so… ah… Y’know this’s gonna be the best o’ the best.”

Akechi laughed and Ryuji lamented the fact he loved the sound; despised the fact it sent goosebumps down his whole spine and across his whole person.

“You sound like me when I’m reviewing a sweets shop,” he said, making Ryuji quirk an eyebrow. Akechi continued by saying, “I despise sweets, but saying I like them makes me more likable to the public. The thing about the public is... they’re all idiots, so one simple comment turned into _‘Akechi-kun must want cake!’_ or _‘I sure bet Akechi-kun’d love some of my homemade cookies!’_ and don’t get me wrong… I’m certainly not, er… _ungrateful_ for the gifts, but uh… I wish it was something I liked.”

Taking a stab in the dark, Ryuji asked the question, his voice uncharacteristically quiet and reserved. 

“What _do_ you like?”

The smile that crossed Akechi’s lips seemed to light up the moderately lit café and it was all Ryuji could do to not point it out. 

It wasn’t fair, everything that Goro Akechi did to his heart. Ryuji was supposed to despise him; he was supposed to think of him as an asshole.

…and he _was…_ and he _did._

Akechi was an asshole who somehow wormed his way into his heart despite it all; he was an asshole who looked like a pretentious fuck on television and an even bigger pretentious fuck in real life.

He was an asshole who had a beautifully damaged smile and Ryuji related to that. He could understand that.

…and sometimes, on occasion, much like right now, his smile didn’t seem so damaged — and Ryuji craved being around for every last one of those smiles.

(Really, he craved being around for it all. Happy, sad, angry, depressed. If Akechi felt it, he wanted to be there for it… but there was something special about his smiles that did something special to his heart.)

“Savory,” Akechi replied, sipping down the last of his coffee before he stood up. “Ramen and sushi are my favorites.”

Ryuji nodded, watching as Akechi rummaged through his briefcase after inputting a lock code that looked like 3-0-2 for both sides of the lock.

Not that he was trying to snoop.

It came with being a thief.

“Me, too.”

Akechi smiled again as he looked into his briefcase. “Huh. Now that’s interesting, isn’t it,” he hummed.

_…Interesting?_

After putting a couple hundred yen down on the counter, Akechi got a piece of paper from a notepad (it had a giant A at the top, so it was clearly a monogrammed pad) and pen from his briefcase. He took a moment to write something on it and then handed it to Ryuji.

“Thank you for the coffee, Akira-kun,” Akechi said, closing up his briefcase and holding it to his side. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“Yep,” Akira replied, waving Akechi off, his attention still mostly on his phone. “See you tomorrow, Akechi.”

Ryuji didn’t respond, but they traded looks nevertheless.

With that, Akechi left.

…and _as soon as Akechi was gone,_ Ryuji looked down at the piece of paper folded in his hand — and then up to see Akira, who was hovering over him, pretending as if he were still minding his own business.

It was obvious he had been watching; obvious he wanted to see what was on the piece of paper.

> _You do know you already have my phone number, Ryuji._
> 
> _Don’t torture yourself with drinks you don’t like just to impress me._
> 
> _You already do._
> 
> _Text me sometime, if you want, and we’ll go get sushi together._
> 
> _My treat, of course._
> 
> _Goro_

Ryuji smiled and folded up the note, putting it in his pocket just as Akira was moving back down to his end of the counter, leaning over it, resting his elbows on it.

“So, uh… What, uh… Whatcha got there, Ryuji?” Akira asked in a sing-song tone, still for some reason pretending like he hadn’t just been snooping and reading over his shoulder.

Ryuji rolled his eyes as he shoved his hand in the pocket he put the note in, his own voice deadpan. 

“A note.” 

“What _kind_ of note?”

Ryuji sighed.

There was no winning with Akira.

“Akechi wants t’ get sushi with me,” he said, looking down at the coffee. He sighed, knowing Akira would poke around until he got the rest out of him, so he said, “…and also that I don’t need t’ impress him, cuz he already is… I guess.”

Akira grinned, standing up straight. He ran his hands over his apron as he ventured back down the counter, picking up the mug of Ryuji’s barely-drank coffee.

He snatched up the money Akechi had left, as well.

“Text him and find out when he wants to take you out,” Akira said, wandering toward the kitchen. “I’ll help you get ready.”

Ryuji bit his lip.

…had Akira been wing-manning him this entire time?

“How much was that coffee?” he asked, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. “I feel bad makin’ ya make that and then I didn’t even…” He shook his head. _Of course he didn’t drink it._ “Lemme pay for—”

“No need,” Akira said from the kitchen as he began washing up Ryuji’s mug, along with the small pile of dishes that were already by the skin. “Akechi already paid for it.”

_Of course he did._

“Hey, uh... I gotta go, man,” Ryuji said, inching his way to the door. With his hand on the handle, he added, “Thanks for the coffee… and, err, for everything.”

“That’s what friends are for, Ryuji.”

“Thanks, man.”

Hesitating at the door for a moment, he sort of awkwardly tugged it open and headed out into the alley the café was tucked into.

In the distance ahead, Ryuji could clearly see Akechi heading toward the station.

He was either heading to Shibuya, because it was where the TV station and the Prosecutor’s Office was, or he was going to Kichijōji, because it was where he lived.

Either way, Ryuji took a seat on a bench, not wanting to seem like he was creepily following him… and even then, he waited for a few minutes before he fished out his phone to text Akechi.

 **Sakamoto Ryuji:** I got your note.

Akechi responded almost instantly, so he was either already on the train and found a seat, or he was sitting at the station, currently waiting on the train to arrive.

 **Akechi Goro:** I would certainly hope so. I did put it in your hand.

 **Sakamoto Ryuji:** Shuddup.

Ryuji rolled his eyes and sighed, tapping his phone for a moment until he found the right words he wanted to say.

 **Sakamoto Ryuji:** What I meant is, I READ your note, and uh… I’m definitely interested in getting sushi with you.

 **Akechi Goro:** Wonderful.

 **Akechi Goro:** How about this Saturday? Say… around 6:30 or so? Does that work for you?

Ryuji took half a moment to think about it. Saturday was more than enough time to tell his mom he wouldn’t be around for dinner that night — and it was also enough time to tell Akira he’d made plans.

 **Sakamoto Ryuji:** 6:30 on Saturday works.

 **Akechi Goro:** Wonderful.

 **Akechi Goro:** Well, then I will see you then… Unless Akira calls a Phantom Thieves meeting before that, of course.

 **Sakamoto Ryuji:** Right.

 **Sakamoto Ryuji:** Either way, I’ll see ya on Saturday.

 **Akechi Goro:** Of course.

Having nothing else to respond with, Ryuji was just about to put his phone in his pocket when it suddenly vibrated again.

Ryuji expected it to be his mom, asking him where he was and when he was coming home.

It wasn’t.

 **Akechi Goro:** ...and don’t worry. We won’t be consuming anything bitter or sweet that night, unless you want to accompany me to one of the cafés I’m reviewing that afternoon.

 **Akechi Goro:** Even then, there will be nothing bitter on the menu for you. Or even sweet. You don’t have to eat or drink anything you don’t want to.

 **Akechi Goro:** Only a suggestion, of course.

 **Akechi Goro:** 😘

Ryuji almost dropped dead right there. Goro Akechi using emojis — and using the _kissing emoji,_ to boot? He had a strong heart, but he feared he wasn’t healthy enough to handle this.

It took him far too long to figure out how to respond, debating between cheesy and upfront and…

_Just respond to the message._

**Sakamoto Ryuji:** I would be happy to come along to do your reviewing thing, and I don’t mind eating the sweets with you.

 **Sakamoto Ryuji:** Just let me know what time.

 **Sakamoto Ryuji:** 😘

 **Akechi Goro:** Of course I will.

Ryuji smiled at the message, then put his phone back in his pocket. 

He sat on the bench in the alley for a few more minutes until he was positive that he wouldn’t run into Akechi at the station.

When he finally made his way there, he felt a little lighter on his feet.

Blissful.

_Happy._

Ryuji Sakamoto had a date with Goro Akechi.


End file.
